Construction of walls



' I i srnirns Parana OFRECE@ $110332, 0F BRAZIL,

INDIANA, ASSIGNOB T0 HQLLOW BRICK En INDIANA, .L COBPOBATIGNYOF INDIANA.

CONSTRUCTION 0F WALLS.

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Patentes Fes. 1e, ieee.

Mexicanen med my a, me. semi ne. Meer.

To all wlw/m. it hwy-concern:

Be it lmown that I, THoMAs HQ McCue-s,-

lil-ae characters on the drawings representinv like parts:

invention relates to'the construction of and the purpose 1s to provide an improved type of wall., and an improved material from which such a wall may be formed.

A particular object of my invention is to provide construction which shall be iluid proof and which may be advantageously used huildiug duid containers such Yas reservoirs, silos, etc., although its utili-ty is by no ineens limited to such oontainers. My invention will he best understood by reference to the following description taken in comeetion 'with the accompanying7 drawings2 wherein: ,a

Figure l 1s a perspective view or a building unitl constructed according to my in .as curved lon 'tudinally so I hereafter l and 2 joined iby ventionj, l

Fig. 2 is a perspective view partially broken away of a portion er wall built in accordance with iny invention with' units such as are shown in Fig. l; and I Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 oi Fig. 2.

ln the embodiment of my invention which l have chosen for illustration, the unit from which a wall may be constructed is shown as similar to the units now lmown as hollow tiles. For convenience in description I shall refer to 4each unit as a tile although it will be understood that l do .not imply thereby that my invention is l'mlted to the vitreous plastic to which the naine tile is ordinarily given. ln Fig. l, one tile is shown in perspective and it is there shown 'as to adapt it for building a Wall curved circularly or otherwise. In the illustrative embodiment the tile comprises the front and back walls the upper and lower sides 3 and 4c and the central web 5. The two sides 3 and l and the web 5 define two pasdrawmgs, 1s a specification,Y

Athe passage d the channel 8.

nelly as shown at 8 and 9 and desirahl these channels are undercut or dove-tailed: I Either the frolfit wall 1 or the back wall 2 of the tile or, as shown, both of them also has longitudinal passages therethrough and i have here shownJ three passages 10, l1 and 12 in each'wall. glhe uppermost passage l() is preferably of such dlmension that it extends upwardly at least to and preferably beyond the bottoin of the channel 8 in the upper face 3 oi the tile and extends downwardly atleast td and preferably beyond the level of he upper part of the passage 6.' The next lower passage 11 is disposed opposite the joining web 5 and preferably extends beyond thef faces of that web on each side so that it laps both passages 6 and i'. The lowermost passage 12 is disposed as regarde the passage 7 and the channel 9 in the same way as is the passage l() as r cards In other words', the two passages t' and 7 are stag gered with respect to the three passages 1Q. ll and l2 in the Wall of the tile and 'the channels 8 and 9, which may be considered e similar passages which open laterally 'to tno sides or the tile, are similarly staggered. l

- prefer that the passages of the two staf gered sets shoarldY overlap on each other -as shown. A number o t es such as shown in Fig. l

" are adapted to beused in the formation el a wall by being. set in any suitable cementltious connectivef 18 such as cement or more tar in a manner which will he well under side facessi the blocks will enter and ll L posed dove-tailed channels the oppositely dile 8 and 9 as shown in Fi 2 and form an interlocking joint with t e same. Where it intervenes between the adjacent ends oi the .tiles it will enter the ends of the various passages to some extent and form there an interlocking joint as shown in section by Fig. 3. ln other words, the passages, which in the embodiment shown extend entirely through the tile, present recesses ateach end thereof, which are adapted to receive the cement or similar connective and form an' interlocking joint. As will be seen by an inspection of Fig. 3, the joint between the connective 13 and the tile is in the nature of a mortise and tenon joint and in the particular case chosen for illustration the mortises are provided b the openI ends of the various passages in is tile and the ten.- ons are yformed by the plastic cement which flows into them.

By this construction of wall whereln the interstices between the various units form what I have here called a mortise and a tenon joint and which is exemplified by the intereng'agement of the connecting cement with the ends of the passages, a thoroughly weather-proof and fluid-proof structure 1s provided for. The materials of which the lwall is com sed, that is, the tiles them selves and t e cement las such, are practically impervious but when a wall 1s built up from units it is possible for fluid to seep through the joints and thus enter the interior of the structure. By the construction of tile such as I have descri'bed, this seepin is minimized.- Referring to Fig. 2., it wi be seen that if water starts to work through the wall at the horizontal joint between t e tile and the cement, it will encounter the dove-tailed rib caused by the entry of the cement 13 into the channel 9 and. will be checked. In other words, to permit a leak age through this horizontal joint the watr must follow in a circuitous and tortmus course along the joint 15 then up and across the dove-tall 16 and down 0n the-other side thereof and through the joint 17. Such a movement of water is practically impossible. With reference now to the joint between the ends of the tiles, that is, the joint which is vertical in Fig. 2 and which is shown in section in Fig. 3, it will be seen that Ithe water entering at the joint 18 must again follow a circuitous course about and over three ribs or tenons formed by the connective which has entered the recesses or mortises formed by the ends of thc various passages in the tile. If the water were permitted to enter at about the location of the section line 3 3 it is obvious that it would have to pass about three of these obstructions. It is probable, therefore, that the water which came into contact with` the tenon entering the passage 10 would seek to ind a any tlirou h between the two passages 10 and l1. ecause of the staggered construction -of tile which has been described, it would then encounter the tenon formed by the cement entering the passage 6. If 1t see ed down from here to the web 5 it would t en come into contact with the tenon formed in the inner passage il. It is, however, practically impossible that the leakage would have progressed so far and the above course is traced out simply to show how the construction which has been described provides for presentin in all directions a tortuous course to moisture. The passages 10 obstruct the space between the base of the channel 8 and the top of the passage 6. The passage 1l obstructs the space between the two passages 6 and 7 formed b the web 5,

. and the assage 12 the sace tween the bottom o passage 7 and t e top of channel 9. Similar y the two'passage's 6 and 7 provide for guarding against the entrance of any water in the s aces between the passages 10, 11 and 12. n other words, no matter how a transverse line maybe passed through the joint, it will intersect one or more of the tenons which are formed bythe entrance of the cementitious connective into the ends of the tile.

For clearness in the above description I have referred to the various'parts of the building unit or tile by such words |as top, bottom and `the like. Obvioiisly,however, these words are not to 'be taken as having a limiting effect as the dis 'sition of the unit is immaterial. I have 'urthermore described the single lillustrative embodiment shown in considerable detail in order that the principles of my invention might be most clearly understood and have used spe ciic words in so doing, but it will be understood that I have done this with a descriptive rather than with a defining pur ose and that the vjliarticular features so fu ly described are i lustrative merely.

What Ido claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A. building unit for wall construction coniprisin a hollow tile having side walls connected y crosswebs to afford longitudinal dead air spaces, said side walls extending beyond an outer cross web to provide a recessed mortar bed and containing a plurality of narrow, open-endedlmortarkeying air spaces opposite the respective cross webs and substantially overlapping said dead air spaces, those of said narrow air spaces con` tiguous to said mortar bed extending at titl least to the bottom thereof, substantially Ias lapping said dead air spaces, certain of said.

last mentioned air spaces reaching at least to the said mortar beds.

In testimony whereof, I have name to this specification. 4

THOMAS H. MCCREA.

signed my Witnesses:

JOHN' F. BROWN, A. M. THOMAS. l 

